C is for Cold
by AzikaRue394
Summary: While Julia's off with her new beau, Raul goes for a walk to clear his head. Little did he know he'd end up saving a life. Raul/Mathilda. Hints of Tala/Julia.


A/N: So, this just kind of popped into my head one day. It was just a little scene that came to me and inspired me to write a story surrounding it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

Enjoy!

* * *

**C is for Cold**

Raul was chilly. He realized the fact sometime during his nighttime wandering and pulled his jacket closer. He really wished he'd thought to wear something besides a T-shirt and zip-up hoodie, but when you're in the habit of walking during the night, usually the last thing on your exceedingly full mind is to grab a coat on your way out the door. He really wished Julia had been there to tell him to bundle up, but she was out on a date for the first time in her life – for the first time in Raul's, too, as a matter of fact.

The circus star sighed, running a tired hand through his flaming red hair. He hated the fact that Julia wasn't there. She was never there anymore. In fact, Raul had spent more time away from his sister in the past few months than he had in his entire lifetime, and he was beginning to miss her constant goading and jiving.

It all started when she first laid eyes on that guy from the Blitzkrieg Boys – Tala. It didn't take a genius to see that she had a major crush on him. Unfortunately, growing up in the circus didn't make one very savvy when it came to the opposite sex. So, Julia had taken to spending a lot of time with Mariam, trying to pick up on how to actually land a date with a guy. After much floundering around and dealing with a socially inept Russian, they managed to get one date set. Cue Julia running around like a maniac and pestering poor Mariam 24/7 about what to wear, do, and say on a first date. Raul wasn't sure who had asked whom out, but it didn't matter to him either way. All he knew was that his sister was being stolen away by an older, taller, more mature redhead and he didn't like it one bit. Oh and Tala was turning her into a complete maniac in the process. Julia had never lost her cool so much with a guy.

Somewhere, in the back of his head, a voice whispered that it was only one date. They weren't technically an item or anything and, if it went badly, odds were she'd be waking Raul up at five o'clock the next morning to train him into oblivion. But the dominant voice at the moment was telling him that Julia taking an interest in his beyblading skills was far in the past now. Tala had had Julia's secret affection for too long for them not to end up together. And Tala had agreed to date her in the first place. As annoyed with Tala as he was, Raul didn't see him as the type of guy to go around breaking girls' hearts for the fun of it.

"There goes that theory," Raul thought, heaving a gigantic sigh. His breath swirled before him, causing his eyes to widen slightly in surprise. It was colder outside than he thought. Who would have thought that a September night could be so frosty? Not Raul, that's for sure. Julia might have, but it's not like she was around to share her thoughts with him.

Something small, that he hadn't noticed before caught Raul's attention in that moment. It was just a small detail of a memory that he hadn't found important until he'd thought about Julia and the September chill: She hadn't taken anything other than a light jacket on her date with her either. Maybe his mind was more in synch with hers in their separation than he thought it could be. Or maybe she was so head over heels in love with Tala that she forgot all about logical thought processes and the possibilities of a cold September. Maybe that idiot would at least have the decency to let his new girlfriend wear his jacket since he was responsible for her neglecting to wear an actual coat herself. That is if he was even smart enough to think of it.

What did Julia see in Tala anyway? He was rude, bossy, obnoxious, self-centered, stupid, crude, cold, mean, pushy, and numerous words that Raul would get in a lot of trouble if Julia heard him say them. But Julia wasn't there. She was with _him_. The one who wasn't worthy of his sister, but still had her groveling at his feet, waiting for his gaze to fall on her so she could turn to mush under his calculating, icy, blue eyes.

Raul roared out a particularly nasty insult in Spanish and kicked a rock into the river where he'd happened to wander. He was so worked up that he barely heard the small "Eep!" that had sounded from the bridge.

He staggered off to the side in shock, unaware that anyone else had been in the vicinity. He stayed quiet, listening for any sound to indicate whether or not he'd imagined whomever he'd heard. The only noise was his ragged breathing, so he decided to chance it and call out to the person who was very likely a figment of his stressed imagination. "Um…hello?" he walked cautiously out onto the dark bridge, squinting into the abyss in search of whoever had cried out. When he reached center of the bridge and ran into no one, he decided that he really had been imagining things – there was something else he could blame on Tala.

"Tala Ivanov, you are driving me insane!" Raul shouted to the sky, stamping his foot on the ground angrily.

"Whoop!" the same disembodied voice sounded from somewhere off to his right, followed by a hearty splash.

Raul stood in shock for a minute, his mouth hanging open and eyes staring stunned off into the distance. Had he seriously just scared someone so badly that they fell off the bridge into the river? Thousands of despairing thoughts filled his head and he did everything in his will not to succumb to them and curl up in a ball or have a panic attack. When the din of someone floundering about in the water below reached his ears he was forced to snap out of it and accept the fact that he would be a murderer if he didn't help that person.

A large gasp of air forced its way into Raul's lungs after a few minutes of holding his breath out of fear. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, and paced back and forth once or twice, before seemingly making up his mind.

"Why me?" he groaned, and proceeded to jog off of the bridge.

Once he was on the riverbank, he wasted no time in running as fast as he could, trying to beat the current. It was too dark to see who was in the river, but Raul could tell decently well where he or she was by listening for the strangled cries for help and the spluttery, choking coughs. Also making itself known to his ears was the desperate splashing of a person groping for something to hold onto that would help them pull themselves back to shore. The splashing was getting generally quieter and farther apart and Raul knew the chore of keeping one's head above the water was taking its toll.

"Hang on!" he shouted over the roar of the river, the whipping of the wind past him, and the pounding of the blood in his veins. He was running faster than he'd ever run before, working off all the pent up anger and frustration he had with, Julia and Tala, their date, and the absence of proper outer wear.

All of a sudden, the sounds of the stranger in the water's struggle stopped. Raul skidded to a stop and squinted out into the middle of the river, panic tearing at his chest. His eyes were like an owl's as he tried to see through the thick, black, moonless curtain of night. He turned his head slowly from one side to the other, carefully taking in every detail he could manage with his heart beating double time. Slowly, but surely, he made out the frame of a thin girl clutching onto a rock that rose up out of the water.

Not wanting to scare her, he spoke as calmly as possible, "Hey! Do you need help?" It was a dumb question, he knew. Obviously she needed help – she was holding onto a boulder in the middle of a raging river and she didn't seem to be doing it for fun. Raul couldn't think of anything else to say, though, as "I'm sorry" should be kept until you actually manage to save the person. Or at least, that's how he saw it.

"I – I…" she stuttered, her teeth chattering and body shivering.

"Are you okay?" Raul persisted, trying to get some sort of analysis of the problem out of this mystery girl while he figured out a way to approach it.

"I – I'm slip-pp-ping," she muttered with obvious panic in her voice. "I c-can't h-h-hold-d on…"

"Just hang on a little bit longer!" Raul urged, stripping off his jacket and shoes. There was nothing for it but to jump in for her. He'd walk a little ways upstream and dive in. This particular section of the river wasn't too wide and if he judged it right he could manage to run right into the protruding rock. Then, just maybe, he could get up enough momentum to get to the other bank by pushing them both off of the rock. It was crazy, and most people would call it stupid, but he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. He owed her that much for being the cause of all this in the first place.

He raised his arms to prepare for the dive. He took a few deep breaths, practically hyperventilating to get enough oxygen into his veins to hold him off in case he went under. His feet were just about to leave the ground when his damsel in distress was wrenched from her lifeline with a scream of utter fear.

Raul swore and took off running again. His bare feet padded against the moist ground, and he mentally cursed as they stuck slightly with every drum roll of a step. If he was going to reach her in time, every second counted. At this point he could only see the things holding him back, like the soft ground, his personal limitations, and the approaching waterfall that he'd feared all along. As the situation became direr he started thinking: Would she at least pass out before she hit the bottom? What if she drowned before she even got to the waterfall? Or would hypothermia steal her away before the other two? Would her last thoughts be of the angry boy who scared her into falling off the bridge, or of the stupid one who couldn't save her in time?

No, no! He couldn't think like that. She wasn't going to die, she just couldn't! If she died, he'd throw himself in after her as repayment for his debt. That is if he didn't have a heart attack whilst pushing himself past his maximum physical capacity first.

"Help!" came a raw, terrified scream. It was the loudest she'd managed to get and he just knew that it would be the last she would be able to spit out. That didn't matter though. Her shout had given him renewed courage and determination. She wasn't dead yet and he'd make sure that tonight wouldn't be her last.

But she was heading for the waterfall full force. She had no energy left and adrenaline was all Raul was running on. It was a miracle that she was even able to keep her head above the water! Unfortunately, it was all she was able to do for herself and it was only delaying the inevitable, unless… Yes, of course! No time to celebrate his victory yet, though. There was still a damsel to save.

If it was even possible, Raul kicked up the speed a notch. He must have been moving faster than light by that point. He could only thank God that he'd grown up in the circus or he mightn't have the endurance to pull this marathon off. But he could thank the circus for another thing as well.

The girl was spending more time below the water than above it now, and she gave a shrill shriek as she reached the limit of her strength.

"Just a little bit farther!" Raul thought, coaching himself mentally and eyeing an up-and-coming tree branch.

As the girl screeched one last time, Raul let out a yell of his own as he leapt into the air and snatched the branch with his hands. He swung around and hung by his knees, dangling his arms down and grappling for her wrists, just as she was about to disappear below the surface of the water for good.

For a while, he simply hung there, holding on to the unconscious girl and catching his breath. He didn't dare look down at her or the river, knowing that such an action might cause him to lose his head. Sluggishly, he started to slide back towards the tree the branch sprouted from and the solid ground the tree grew out of. It was slow work, but he didn't dare vary from his one at a time knee-sliding routine, for fear of losing his grip on either her or the branch.

Once he reached the shore, he gently heaved her up onto it, and hopped out of the tree onto two wobbly legs. He did it. He'd actually saved someone's life! Raul thought he should do something like this more often – he might feel like he had more of a purpose in life. Did it feel this great every time you saved someone from a terribly ghastly death, or did the appeal wear off after a while?

The motionless girl moaned, drawing Raul's attention away from his success. Oh, yeah. Most superheroes remember to make sure that the victim is okay before opening the champagne. He knelt down to get a good look at her face and realized with much surprise that he knew this girl. All the while he was saving her he thought there was something familiar about her, and now he knew why.

"Mathilda?" he whispered, brushing some of the hair out of her face. She was pale and obviously freezing cold, but a quick check of her pulse ensured Raul that she was indeed alive and well…enough. She wouldn't be for long if she wasn't warmed up, though.

Glancing back every few seconds, Raul retraced his steps and found his jacket, socks, and shoes. He returned to the unmoved Mathilda and took off her own soggy jacket, replacing it with his own. He also replaced her shoes and socks with his own, as gross as that sounded. What? A lot of body heat is lost through your feet. Then he pulled her up to lean against him and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her arms and wrists with his hands in a last ditch effort to warm her up.

Eventually, after fifteen minutes or so, she came to. "Wha – what happened?" She shivered and sat up, looking around curiously. She remembered her close encounter with death and realized that she was sitting between her savior's legs at the exact same time, which resulted in a lot of incoherent babbling and failed attempts at getting up.

"Wait," Raul said, gently laying a hand on her arm as he shifted into a kneeling position, instead of encasing her in his embrace, which, quite frankly, was much less awkward when she was dead to the world. "You probably shouldn't exert yourself for a little while."

Mathilda nodded, and blushed when she met Raul's eyes, who blushed as well, in turn. They looked down into their respective laps simultaneously.

"Um…" Whatever words Mathilda had planned to say had been lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth in the foggy awkwardness. She twiddled her thumbs nervously. Being so shy, she often had trouble talking to people, but this time it seemed to be doubly difficult. She couldn't figure out if it was because he'd just saved her life, or if the crush she had slowly been developing on him since their battle in the Championships was to blame.

"I'm really sorry, by the way." Raul still blushed as he inclined his head a bit to give her an apologizing look from under his red bangs that made her heart flutter. "For making you fall in, I mean…" His gaze dropped back down into his lap, finding it easier to talk to the girl he thought he might have feelings for if no eye contact was made.

"Um, that's okay," Mathilda replied, ducking her head back down when she realized she was staring. "I – I mean you did save me."

"Yeah…"

"And I shouldn't have sat on the railing in the first place – I have bad balance." She tried to mask the smile – the one brought on by thoughts of Raul being her knight in shining armor – on her face.

"I kind of noticed," Raul said before he could stop himself. In a rush to correct his blunder, he stammered on, "I mean, I wasn't making fun of you or anything, but you fell in and it was all my fault anyway, so I had to go and get you, I didn't recognize you or think for a second that you were clumsy or anything like that!"

Mathilda giggled and Raul puffed up, his cheeks reddening. Of all the times to lose his cool, it had to be in front of the one girl whose opinion mattered to him. Was the world really that cruel? Well, he supposed it was, if it let Tala roam its surface. There he went again! Taking over Raul's head! Raul sighed inwardly.

As Mathilda went on with her giggling, Raul got more and more embarrassed. Really, there had to be something he could say to excuse himself. It's not like he could say that a maniacal, devil-horned, redhead was taking over his brain by making his sister so distant, but he couldn't' just let her go on laughing and thinking he was mad. He was about to comment when she suddenly gasped and checked her watch.

"Waterlogged," she sighed, slumping her shoulders and allowing a pretty pout to work its way onto her lips. "And it was a gift from Miguel, too."

Miguel? When had he come into the conversation? "Great," Raul thought sarcastically. He'd blown it now, gone on rambling like a complete and total idiot and scared her off. Obviously she was interested in Miguel – the tall, handsome, tanned, muscular, older blond and not him – the puny, average, pale, skinny, little boy. Growing up in the circus _really_ didn't give one any knowledge when it came to the opposite sex, or he'd have known that he'd never have a chance with any girl, unless he was Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. He'd missed out on what girls wanted most when he went swimming in the gene pool, apparently. Bummer. At least now he could pity himself more by saying that two girls had ditched him for older men who were a fellow redhead, and a fellow Spaniard to boot.

"Do you, um, do you know the time?" Her eyes darted back and forth between her watch and Raul's face.

Raul jumped slightly, still mentally preparing his tale of woe to write down later. "The time? Yeah, let me check my phone." He felt his pants' pockets for his cell phone, but to no avail. Then he remembered. "Um, it's in my, uh…" He gestured to his jacket that she was wearing.

"Oh." Mathilda blushed once more, reaching a hand into the pocket and extracting the slim device. "Almost midnight," she dictated, handing it back to its rightful owner. "I should be getting back before the others worry."

"Oh, okay." Raul stood up dully and turned to walk away. Wouldn't want her precious Miguel to worry.

"Um, Raul?" She extended her hand towards him.

He stopped and turned to the side to view her out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah?" His voice held a smidge of annoyance that he hadn't even noticed he'd put there.

"Aren't we staying at the same hotel?"

"Oh...yeah," he affirmed weakly. He'd made himself into a fool again. Not that it mattered anymore.

"Well, then we could walk together, right?" She sounded a tad bit hopeful. Raul couldn't imagine why. Maybe she was afraid that if she walked alone he'd spaz out again and she'd fall back into the river. She wouldn't want his help that time, though, she'd want Miguel's.

"I guess so," he replied moodily and waited for her to stand up, grab her soaking wet jacket and follow him. She smiled up at him and he nodded back at her. She looked confused and looked away from him to her feet.

They started off in the direction of their hotel, barely chatting. It took Raul to the bridge to notice that he was still barefoot, but carrying Mathilda's wet socks and shoes loosely. Mathilda, who had been staring at Raul's shoes on her feet for the past ten minutes, hadn't noticed either, having been lost in thought. After another flushed exchange, they managed to switch, Mathilda's feet now sloshing with every step. The sloshing did little to distract her from her muddled thoughts.

"Raul?" she spoke after what seemed like hours of silence between them. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied, stuffing his hands into his pockets, refusing to make eye contact.

"You're a bad liar, Raul." She hadn't meant to say that aloud. Oops.

He knew he sucked at lying. There was no way he could tell her the truth without telling her how much he cared for her, though, and he couldn't do that. Not that he didn't want to, he seriously couldn't. He'd probably pass out or something. Julia was the one who was always able to come right out with her thoughts, unless she was anywhere near Tala. Raul had been the shy baby brother who got half the attention, but twice the embarrassment and was therefore incapable of pouring out his feelings to another human being. That's what he kept a journal for.

"I wish you'd just tell me what's the matter, Raul. I could help you."

"All right, then." He decided to try her. "My life is being ruined by guys."

Her eyes widened and she shot him a curious look. "Okay…"

Raul, realizing what she was thinking, hurried to correct himself a little less spastically than the last time. "No, no, no, I'm not gay." Though any guy with a sister like Julia had cause to be. "I just…don't measure up to some people and it's killing me."

Mathilda, relieved that Raul wasn't as gay as some people thought he was, commented, "Well, I think you're pretty great."

"Really?" He looked down at her, realizing too late that he sounded eager. Their eyes met and they both blushed, and turned away.

"Uh…yeah," she squeaked. "You don't have to worry about measuring up to anyone."

Victory soared within him. "Cool." Well, sort of. He might lose her after that not-so-intelligent remark.

Mathilda giggled again, but this time it was more of a nervous, apprehensive giggle.

They'd reached the hotel by now, and were let in by the doorman who was just going off duty (and was staring at Mathilda oddly for being soaked). They thanked him at the same time, causing another onslaught of blushes, and crossed the lobby to the elevator. They stood outside the door for ages, trying to figure out the proper way to say goodnight. To do that, they had to figure out where they stood, and that was nearly impossible.

"Um, thanks again, Raul," Mathilda met his eyes shyly. "I – thanks."

Raul nodded, feeling like his heart was in his throat, keeping him from speaking.

Mathilda gave a small wave and pressed the button for her floor. She got in the elevator, and realized she was wearing the wrong jacket. She slid it off and held the door open to hand it back to him. "This is yours. Sorry about that."

"Um…that's okay." Raul blushed, looking at his shoelaces. "You can keep it."

Mathilda giggled girlishly. "Thanks." With that, she let the door slide shut and the elevator carried her up to her floor.

Raul sighed and stared dreamily into the middle distance. Wait. That was his floor, too. Crap! He trotted over to the stairs and started to run up them, feeling suddenly energized. Did this mean Mathilda was unattached, and as in love with him as he was with her? Well, he blushed to himself, he wasn't necessarily in love with her. He was just fond of her – _really_ fond of her. Okay, he was in love. Might as well give in to the fact. He skipped across the final landing, extremely happy with himself, and swung open the door to see Mathilda standing at the door to her suite, digging around for her pass key.

"Do you need help?" he asked in a stage whisper, sliding out from the stairwell and crossing the hallway to her.

She jumped and looked wildly around. She relaxed when her gaze settled on Raul. "I think I might have lost my pass key." She continued digging around in the mass of sopping wet material that was her jacket. "Oh, never mind. It's right here."

"Oh, okay…goodnight again, then, I guess."

They stared awkwardly at each other for the next few minutes, before Mathilda stepped forward and gave Raul a small peck on the cheek. His jaw dropped and his fingers flew to his cheek. He barely registered her say goodnight one last time and disappear into her room, blushing insanely.

"Yes!" he exploded as much as you could in a hotel corridor at one in the morning and ran down the hall to his own room. He let himself in and leaned against the door dazedly.

While standing there, he realized something. He didn't even care whether Julia was back or not. He didn't even care how cold it was that September. This odd sort of relationship he had with Mathilda had its benefits.

* * *

A/N: Was the ending rushed? I think it was, maybe just a little bit. I'll see if I can add a little more to it as I read back through.

Raul and Mathilda "um" and "uh" a lot when they're together. It's a wonder they can even have a half decent conversation. They also have a blush-fest.

Um, cold is used a few times in this, but not as much as I would've liked. It was supposed to be sort of Raul not realizing his problems, including how cold he was, when he was with Mathilda, but I'm not sure it turned out that way.

Reviews would be appreciated.


End file.
